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Case study

The challenge

A leading European provider of gas, electricity and boiler services sought to replace its outdated billing system with an upgraded version to meet customer expectations in the digital age. The company’s existing Oracle® Utilities Customer Care and Billing (CC&B) software was about to become obsolete, while its existing core systems were built on legacy platforms that didn’t provide the required flexibility and advanced digital capabilities. The major roadblock to this implementation was moving from an obsolete version to one that had been upgraded over a period of nine years. Increasing regulations added to the complexity. The company engaged Cognizant's utilities digital experts to upgrade its Oracle CC&B system so it would be better positioned to compete in the digital era.

Our approach

Cognizant partnered with Oracle to upgrade the client’s platform. Although supported by the old version of Oracle CC&B, the programming language Cobol was no longer a part of Oracle’s support and upgrades. To determine if the converted Java code could perform the same function as the original Cobol code, our team scanned over 30,000 lines of code to understand the logic and developed test cases. We then used a Cobol-to-Java (C2J) automation tool as part of the migration, saving conversion time and resources. We successfully converted over 3,500 existing components to Java. Using reverse engineering, we also created 30 design documents from scratch. These documents can be used to gain insights for future projects.

Upgraded platform brings tangible benefits

Using the C2J automation tool eliminated higher licensing and support costs. The upgraded system expands self-service capabilities for the client’s customers, reducing the cost of customer service. It also engages customers more effectively through customized offers.

$121,000

savings as a result of successful C2J tool and system performance optimization

15%

increase in customer retention and acquisition

30% to 40%

reduction in the total cost of ownership for CC&B systems and associated applications